By Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

While Conor McGregor’s reaction to losing to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 has been mostly met positively. However, he’s gotten some criticism for tapping out in the first place, especially after Holly Holm went out cold rather than tap to Miesha Tate in the co-main event.

Diaz this week threw out that criticism this week, partially coming to McGregor’s defense by saying he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with tapping out when you’re beat.

“If you’ve got to tap out, you’ve got to tap out,” Diaz said in an interview with MMAjunkie.com. “I think Holly, she thought she was maybe going to get out. She had already gotten out of one [choke earlier in the fight] and she thought, ‘I’m not quitting.’ McGregor, he was [expletive] done. All the way done. It’s all right. He had to tap out because there was no getting out of that. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with tapping out.

“It’s a fight against the best fighters in the world; you’ve got to tap to that [expletive]. You ain’t getting out of it. You can tap out, or you can go to sleep. It’s [expletive] the same [expletive]. You tap out if you’re caught. The thing is, that’s what I think, is don’t get caught.”

Penick’s Analysis: It’s both a defense of and a dig at McGregor from Diaz, but there really isn’t shame in tapping out in that spot. Giving hero worship to those who go out cold rather than tapping is is taking the macho-BS stance; there’s more potential for brain damage in getting choked out cold, even for a short time. If you’re caught in a hold, and there’s no getting out, you tap. That’s why tapping is there to begin with. Trying to shame McGregor for doing just that is ridiculous on its face.

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